Catalog
25 Centimos
| Issuer | Banco Internacional de Costa Rica |
|---|---|
| Year | 1919 |
| Type | Log in to see details |
| Value | 25 Centimos (25 céntimos) |
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| Obverse description | Log in to see details |
|---|---|
| Obverse lettering | BANCO INTERNACIONAL DE COSTA RICA 25 EL BANCO INTERNACIONAL DE COSTA RICA N° Série A San José, 25 Julio 1919 PAGARÁ AL PORTADOR LA CANTIDAD DE VEINTE Y CINCO CÉNTIMOS EN MONEDA ACUÑADA DE ORO EL MINISTRO DE HACIENDA EL DIRECTOR 25 AMERICAN BANK NOTE COMPANY (Translation: INTERNATIONAL BANK OF COSTA RICA 25 THE INTERNATIONAL BANK OF COSTA RICA No. Series A San José, July 25, 1919 WILL PAY THE BEARER THE AMOUNT OF TWENTY-FIVE CENTS IN GOLD COIN THE MINISTER OF FINANCE THE DIRECTOR) |
| Reverse description | Printed entirely in dark green, the reverse is dominated by an elaborate guilloche rosette at the centre bearing the bank name «BANCO INTERNACIONAL DE COSTA RICA» in a horizontal cartouche. The spelled-out denomination «VEINTE Y CINCO» arches across the top of the central medallion and «CÉNTIMOS» curves along the bottom, while large numeral «25» counters appear to the left and right, all set within intricate lathe-work scrollwork borders. The printer's imprint «AMERICAN BANK NOTE COMPANY» is lettered in small type at the foot of the note. |
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| Comments |
The Banco Internacional de Costa Rica was established in 1914 as a state-owned institution, and this fractional issue belongs to a series of small-denomination notes introduced partly to address coin shortages that plagued the region during and immediately after World War One. Metallic currency movement across borders became unreliable, and paper fractions filled the gap.
ABNC produced the plates with the precision typical of their Central American contracts of the period. Fractional centimos notes from this series survive in far smaller numbers than their higher-denomination counterparts — low face value meant heavy use and disposal rather than saving.